Nine-day Tet windfall for tour firms

The number of tourists booking tours during Tet (Lunar New Year), which falls on February 19 this year, has increased from last year because of the long nine-day holiday this time, according to travel companies.

Hanoi-based travel companies report a 10-40 percent increase, with short tours of two to four days being especially popular.

Besides tours to beaches in the central region, tours to spiritual destinations in Ninh Binh, Lang Son, Quang Binh, and Thua Thien-Hue provinces as well as the Mekong Delta are popular this year.

Tours to explore popular destinations in the north-west and north-east like Moc Chau, Sa Pa and Bac Ha are also popular, especially with youngsters.

A large number of people will begin their tours on the second or third day of the lunar year.

Travel companies are offering promotions like price cuts to attract tourists.-

Halong Bay – a world’s top travel destination

The MSN travel website is featuring Halong Bay in the northern province of Quang Ninh as among the top travel destinations in the world.

According to a posting on the website “Ha Long Bay is a popular destination in Quảng Ninh Province. Ha Long Bay includes some 1,600 islands and islets, most of which are limestone. This exceptionally beautiful and appealing site was designated a World Heritage Site in 1994.”

Other Southeast Asia travel destinations include Rice Terraces of the Philippines Cordilleras in the Philippines, Angkor in Cambodia and the Borobudur Temple Compounds in Indonesia.

Binh Dinh launches new tourism marketing campaign

The Binh Dinh provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism has announced its newest marketing campaign aimed at a number of promising markets in Russia, Germany, India and Western Europe.

According to its Deputy Director Nguyen Van Son, the programme focuses on six different themes (culture, gastronomy and wine, cycling, business trips, wellness and health, active holidays) to build year-round tourism.

To carry out the campaign representatives of the tourism sector plan to actively participate in domestic and foreign tourism festivals and fairs as well as organising a large number of big events at home.

This new concept seeks to position Vietnam as a country that offers tourism products outside the main tourist season to ultimately extend the tourism season and increase tourist traffic.

In implementing this new programme, Vietnam plans to cater to special interest markets by presenting them with customized travel options geared toward their specific preferences.

In 2014, Binh Dinh province welcomed over 2 million tourists, including 171,500 international visitors, grossing total tourism revenues of VND787,091 billion.

Sapa - focus of tourism sector in 2015

The Lao Cai provincial’s People Committee on February 6 announced a number of noteworthy tourism events in 2015.

This is a golden opportunity for domestic and foreign visitors and travel agencies to update information on ideal destinations in Lao Cai.

The reproduction of Lao Cai markets in Hanoi from February 6-15 is the first highlight of tourism events in 2015.

The following events include Upper Temple Festival, the spiritual tour along the Red River, Sapa Cultural Week, Bac Ha Horse Race, Vietnam Mountain Marathon 2015, and mountain bike tours 2015.

Particularly, the Sa Pa Culture-Tourism Week held in Sa Pa town, Sa Pa district is expected to lure a large number of tourists during holidays.  

During the week, new tourism products will be introduced such as specialised tours, night at Sa Pa love market, flower display along the roads, street festical and a photo exhibition.

Speaking at the press conference in Hanoi, Director of Lao Cai provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Tran Huu Son said that last year, the number of tourists travelling to the province increased thanks to the opening of Noi Bai-Lao Cai expressway.

He hopes that new tourism products including eco and village tours will help domestic and foreign tourists enjoy a very good time in a best destination in Vietnam.

Mekong Delta region looks to boost tourism

The Mekong Delta welcomed 2.2 million tourists and earned over 508 billion VND (24.2 million USD) in the first month of 2015 according to the provincial Tourism Association.

The region expects to see 25.4 million tourists this year, 2.7 million of which will be foreign visitors, an 11.3 percent increase from 2014.

To reach their target, regional provinces have collaborated to establish tourism promotion centres, diversify products, and improve service quality. Private businesses have also been encouraged to invest in tourism infrastructure initiatives.

Local high-quality specialties should be strengthened, including fruit, traditional confectionary products, palm sugar, and fish sauce.

The sector should also focus on enhancing labour training and expanding traditional ethnic festivals of the Kinh, Khmer, and Chinese, as well as opening additional high-quality tours and tourism complexes.

Notably, the Mekong Delta will develop a tourism chain combining waterway tourism, eco-tourism, and trade villages.

In addition, provinces will intensify cooperation with other countries in the Mekong River Sub region to expand its popularity in the Southeast Asian market as well as maintaining Northeast Asian, Western European, and North American markets.

Looking forward, the Steering Committee for the Southwest Region has collaborated with the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism and the People’s Committee of Can Tho to organise an international tourism festival from April 26 - May 2, 2015.

The event is expected to attract representatives from tourism sectors nationwide and internationally, including Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos.-

Lao Cai leads northern provinces in int’l tourist arrivals

Lao Cai has welcomed international holidaymakers from 70 countries worldwide, becoming one of the five tourist hubs in the north of Vietnam besides Hanoi capital, Quang Ninh and Ninh Binh provinces and Hai Phong port city.

The local tourism sector served 1,470,000 visitors in 2014, a yearly rise of 16.6 percent, including 545,239 international tourists, and grossing over 3.2 trillion VND (152 million USD) in revenue, up 28.5 percent year-on-year.

In the four-day New Year holiday of 2015, the province greeted nearly 70,000 visitors, including 41,120 descending in the resort town of Sa Pa.

Remarkable growth in the number of visitors and tourism revenue in 2014 and the outset of 2015 made Lao Cai lead other northern mountainous provinces in the field, said Tran Huu Son, Director of the Lao Cai provincial Department for Culture, Sports and Tourism.

This year, local authorities will continue to hold a range of activities to promote their tourism image, potential and strengths, such as a mountain market in Hanoi, Thuong (upper) temple festival and spiritual tourism events in Lao Cai city, a culture-tourism week in Sa Pa town, a horse riding tournament in Bac Ha district, and an international marathon tournament.

Located about 300 kilometres from the capital city, Lao Cai is said to be one of the most interesting and beautiful areas in Southeast Asia, which is blessed with an abundance of scenic spots and a treasure chest of biodiversity.

Bac Ha district is inhabited by 14 ethnic minority groups, predominantly H’Mong, Dao, Tay and Nung. The Bac Ha mountain market is selected as one of the most 10 attractive markets in Southeast Asia . It is not only a trading place, but also a venue for cultural exchanges among local people.

Around 38km from Lao Cai city, the whole town of Sa Pa is dominated by the Hoang Lien Son mountain range which is famous for housing  

Fansipan, Indochina’s highest mountain, at a height of 3,142m above sea level.

The town was discovered in 1903 and is endowed with myriad natural sites, such as Ham Rong Mountain, Silver Waterfall and Bamboo Forest.  

It is home to six main ethnic minority groups with various traditional festivals, unique cultural practices and regular events such as Bac Ha market and Sa Pa love market.

In 2009, the famous US Travel and Leisure magazine voted the Sa Pa terraces as one of the seven most beautiful and spectacular terraces in Asia and the world. In 2013, on the 110th founding anniversary of the town, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism decided to rank Sa Pa terraced fields as a National Landscape site.-